Preparing for nanowrimo
Oct. 20th, 2005 07:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebMy region of nanowrimo has put out its calendar of events. One is a get together to meet people at the beginning, at the end of October. One is a thank-god-it's-over party in December. Then there are a bunch of "write-ins" during November where apparently people hang out together, writing, in coffee shops or bookstores. Such an event hardly seems as efficient as just staying home alone and not commuting and not conversing, but just writing. However, I do know these things are not just about mathematics (2 hours = 2,000 words), but also about psychology. So, I think I'll try one sometime. I should probably try an earlier one in case I like them, so I'll have time to go to some more.
I've been reading on the forums looking at tips. One of them (in conjunction with another tip I read elsewhere) is actually helping. The tip is to take a major trait of one of your characters and ask yourself why that character has that trait. That helps you develop your character. The other tip I'm using in conjunction with that tip was that when you are at a crossroads, always brainstorm at least ten alternatives instead of jumping at the first one that comes to mind. So I've been brainstorming reasons my characters are the way they are, and I think it's helpful.
For example, why does one character move all the time? Because she likes traveling, and if you move to a completely different place every few years and take lots of weekend trips from there, then it's a very cheap way to do lots of traveling. And now how did she get like that? Here is my brainstorming:
* she was a military brat and is used to it
* her best friend or ex- was a military brat and it sounded intriguing
* her parents were on the run from creditors, so she's used to it
* she lived somewhere icky and wants to be anywhere and everywhere else
* she traveled with a school group or something and liked it then
* her grandparents or friend's grandparents traveled the country in their RV and that intrigued her
* she loves geography or biology and likes to see the diversity of it up close
* she keeps developing allergies in new places - it takes a while to develop new allergies (but do the old ones ever go away?)
* her parents moved once and made a big production out of it, making it sound like it would be horrible and apologizing, but then it turned out to be better than the old place
* she keeps getting into trouble and likes to have a clean slate every few years
I think I'll use two or three of those!
I didn't do so great on how one guy got to be the type to be always thinking sarcastic thoughts but saying only polite things aloud:
* he's smart
* he learned the hard way not to say sarcastic things out loud
* his grandpa said sarcastic things but trained him not to talk like that to others
* his family is extreme on the whole southern hospitality thing
* he stutters (no, I don't know what this has to do with anything, but it's just brainstorming)
None of these really help me.
(I'm implying that I've done this with many traits, but actually, this is all I've done so far.)
I've been reading tips and tricks and advice for new people. One guy thinks that most of the people who quit decided they had a made a mistake in even starting. This will not happen to me. Even if I am making a mistake, I've decided I can't know it until I try writing every day for a month. So I won't quit in the sense that I'll drop out, although I might decide I won't make 50,000 words in 30 days or that I won't come up with anything good before the end.
Also, I know I'm going to have trouble coming up with ideas, and everyone agrees that in this situation you should just keep on writing, even if it's drivel. If you have your characters walking around the house, brushing their teeth, calling friends on the phone, you are in a much better mindset to think of something than if you just take a break until you think of something. I feel that this will be good advice for me because I am not good at breaks. In school, once I finally started doing my homework, I could generally stay with it until I had finished it, but if I ever took a break, I was unlikely to ever end the break. I was much worse at starting than at continuing. So until I learn otherwise, I'm going to assume I'm the same way about about writing fiction.
However, all the other tips and tricks are moot right now because I don't know what my other problems are going to be. So it's silly spending a lot of time reading in the forums. I should instead be spending my time working on plot and characters.
I've been reading on the forums looking at tips. One of them (in conjunction with another tip I read elsewhere) is actually helping. The tip is to take a major trait of one of your characters and ask yourself why that character has that trait. That helps you develop your character. The other tip I'm using in conjunction with that tip was that when you are at a crossroads, always brainstorm at least ten alternatives instead of jumping at the first one that comes to mind. So I've been brainstorming reasons my characters are the way they are, and I think it's helpful.
For example, why does one character move all the time? Because she likes traveling, and if you move to a completely different place every few years and take lots of weekend trips from there, then it's a very cheap way to do lots of traveling. And now how did she get like that? Here is my brainstorming:
* she was a military brat and is used to it
* her best friend or ex- was a military brat and it sounded intriguing
* her parents were on the run from creditors, so she's used to it
* she lived somewhere icky and wants to be anywhere and everywhere else
* she traveled with a school group or something and liked it then
* her grandparents or friend's grandparents traveled the country in their RV and that intrigued her
* she loves geography or biology and likes to see the diversity of it up close
* she keeps developing allergies in new places - it takes a while to develop new allergies (but do the old ones ever go away?)
* her parents moved once and made a big production out of it, making it sound like it would be horrible and apologizing, but then it turned out to be better than the old place
* she keeps getting into trouble and likes to have a clean slate every few years
I think I'll use two or three of those!
I didn't do so great on how one guy got to be the type to be always thinking sarcastic thoughts but saying only polite things aloud:
* he's smart
* he learned the hard way not to say sarcastic things out loud
* his grandpa said sarcastic things but trained him not to talk like that to others
* his family is extreme on the whole southern hospitality thing
* he stutters (no, I don't know what this has to do with anything, but it's just brainstorming)
None of these really help me.
(I'm implying that I've done this with many traits, but actually, this is all I've done so far.)
I've been reading tips and tricks and advice for new people. One guy thinks that most of the people who quit decided they had a made a mistake in even starting. This will not happen to me. Even if I am making a mistake, I've decided I can't know it until I try writing every day for a month. So I won't quit in the sense that I'll drop out, although I might decide I won't make 50,000 words in 30 days or that I won't come up with anything good before the end.
Also, I know I'm going to have trouble coming up with ideas, and everyone agrees that in this situation you should just keep on writing, even if it's drivel. If you have your characters walking around the house, brushing their teeth, calling friends on the phone, you are in a much better mindset to think of something than if you just take a break until you think of something. I feel that this will be good advice for me because I am not good at breaks. In school, once I finally started doing my homework, I could generally stay with it until I had finished it, but if I ever took a break, I was unlikely to ever end the break. I was much worse at starting than at continuing. So until I learn otherwise, I'm going to assume I'm the same way about about writing fiction.
However, all the other tips and tricks are moot right now because I don't know what my other problems are going to be. So it's silly spending a lot of time reading in the forums. I should instead be spending my time working on plot and characters.